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This paper is the genesis for robots and robotic technology and their introduction to the Caribbean Academic library community. This paper aims to explore the specific areas that this technology can improve as well as their adaptability and dynamic yet multifaceted nature it possesses.

A thorough assessment of literature was done of all developed libraries that are employing the services of robots and robotic technology in their daily operations. Additionally, a meticulous analysis was done of all Caribbean Libraries that have explored, are currently exploring or actively explored the implementation of robots and robotic technology for effective use in their libraries.

Seamless functionality as well as the reduction of mundane repetitive tasks by library staff is at the fore. Efficacy and heightened levels of accuracy are also found to be a great factor for implementation as well as speed of retrieval and offsite storage are further benefits to the implementation of robots and robotic technology.

This research primarily assessed material on robotics and robotic technology that offers unprecedented efficacy and accuracy in the processing of information and tasks assigned as well as smooth location and retrieval of library material resulting in reduction in wait time for all library users.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind and is intended to trigger a “light bulb” in the minds of decision-makers and managers of Library spaces as to the potential robots and robotic technology has on fostering greater levels of efficacy in certain key areas of libraries and help improve user services while adding to the theoretical body of knowledge available in the field on this fast rising area.

Drawing on value cocreation, this study examines health-care customers’ perceptions of patient-centered care (PCC) in hospital and online primary care settings. This study aims to address how are the key principles of PCC related, how the relationships between key PCC principles and outcomes (subjective well-being and service satisfaction) vary depending on the channel providing the care (hospital/online primary care) and what differences are placed on the involvement of family and friends in these different settings by health-care customers.

This study comprises four samples of health-care customers (Sample 1 n = 272, Sample 2 n = 278, Sample 3 n = 275 and Sample 4 n = 297) totaling 1,122 respondents. This study models four key principles of PCC: service providers respecting health-care customers’ values, needs and preferences; collaborative resources of the multi-disciplinary care team; health-care customers actively collaborating with their own resources; and health-care customers involving family and friends, explicating which principles of PCC have positive effects on outcomes: subjective well-being and service satisfaction.

Findings confirm that health-care customers want to feel respected by service providers, use their own resources to actively collaborate in their care and have multi-disciplinary teams coordinating and integrating their care. However, contrary to prior findings, for online primary care, service providers respecting customers’ values needs and preferences do not translate into health-care customers actively collaborating with their own resources. Further, involving family and friends has mixed results for online primary care. In that setting, this study finds that involving family and friends only positively impacts service satisfaction, when care is provided using video and not voice only.

By identifying which PCC principles influence the health-care customer experience most, this research shows policymakers where they should invest resources to achieve beneficial outcomes for health-care customers, service providers and society, thus advancing current thinking and practice.

This research provides a health-care customer perspective on PCC and shows how the resources of the health-care system can activate the health-care customer’s own resources. It further shows the role of technology in online care, where it alters how care is experienced by the health-care customer.

This paper aims to investigate the interconnectedness of redenomination risk premiums across the four main European sovereign bond markets (France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands).

The authors used the time-varying parameter vector autoregressions method to achieve the objectives.

This study reveals that the redenomination risk connectedness throughout the Euro area sovereign bond markets is dynamic and exhibits remarkable variations across various crisis episodes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia–Ukraine tensions. In addition, the analysis uncovers significant bilateral connections between countries. Furthermore, the research finds that spillovers from the US dollar redenomination premium (USDRP) are greater than those from the euro redenomination premium (ERP) and currency redenomination premium (CRP). However, during the Ukraine–Russia tensions, the connectedness between the USDRP is stronger than that between the ERP and CRP. On the other hand, the connectedness between CRP is higher than the USDRP and ERP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, this study demonstrates that the four countries play a role as both shock transmitters and receivers, switching alternatively.

This study contributes to the related literature by exploring the redenomination risk connectedness throughout the Euro area sovereign bond markets. Specifically, we rely on the USDRP, the ERP and CRP. These findings have serious implications for both portfolio risk management.

This study proposes a guided tool for cybersecurity risk assessment tailored for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), enabling them to comply with cybersecurity policies despite limitations in security awareness, funding and expertise.

A digital transformation is indispensable for ensuring the sustainable operation of NGOs. Embracing a digital manifesto necessitates an awareness of cybersecurity risks, highlighting the critical need for a robust cybersecurity risk assessment methodology. Initial research phases revealed significant shortages in security awareness, funding and expertise. Consequently, this study introduces an intuitive approach tailored specifically for NGOs, supported by a customized tool designed to address their unique requirements. The NIST cybersecurity risk assessment framework and National Cyber-security Authority (NCA) were adopted to define the risk assessment approach. The efficacy of this approach is evaluated qualitatively through a case study involving three NGOs in Saudi Arabia, aimed at assessing their capability to utilize the tool effectively. Following the implementation, a Likert-scale survey gauged satisfaction among NGOs regarding the tool’s utility.

Results from the case study indicate high satisfaction, affirming its alignment with their operational needs and enhancement of compliance with NCA controls. Furthermore, the use of the tool enhances the awareness of NCA’s cybercity requirements and controls.

Based on theoretical and empirical grounds, this research proposes a novel design of security assessment framework tailored for NGO requirements and supported by initiative tool enabling complying with cybersecurity policies and enhances the awareness of cybersecurity controls.

This study aims to examine the relationship between communication satisfaction experienced by employees in two leading multinational retailers operating in Argentina and their organizational commitment. Specifically, it identifies which communication approaches best explain or predict employees’ affective and continuance commitment to their organization.

The research model combines an adapted and translated version of Downs and Hazen’s communication satisfaction questionnaire as the independent variable and the affective and continuous components of organizational commitment based on Meyer and Allen´s three-component model as the dependent variables. This empirical and causal study surveyed 372 store employees from a French and a Spanish international supermarket chains in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.

The results indicate that formal communication management has the greatest impact on affective commitment (AC), while communication with supervisors is also significant, albeit to a lesser extent. Furthermore, these insights reveal that improving formal communication practices is a key resource for managers seeking to influence store employees’ AC in Argentina’s dynamic and challenging retail landscape.

This pioneering study fills a knowledge gap in organizational communication literature, offering valuable region-specific insights to improve communication satisfaction and commitment among Latin America retail store employees, thereby informing evidence-based management practices.

Esta investigación examina la relación entre la satisfacción con la comunicación que experimentan los empleados de dos cadenas de supermercados internacionales líderes, en Argentina, y su compromiso organizacional. Específicamente, identifica qué enfoques de comunicación explican o predicen mejor el compromiso afectivo y continuo de los empleados hacia su organización.

El modelo de investigación combina una versión adaptada y traducida del cuestionario de satisfacción con la comunicación, de Downs y Hazen como variable independiente y los componentes afectivo y continuo del compromiso organizacional, basado en el modelo de tres componentes de Meyer y Allen, como variables dependientes. El estudio empírico y causal obtuvo respuestas de 372 empleados de tiendas de dos cadenas multinacionales una de origen francés y otra española, ubicadas en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires.

Los resultados indican que la gestión formal de la comunicación es la que tiene el mayor impacto sobre el compromiso afectivo (CA), mientras que la comunicación con los jefes directos también resultó significativa, aunque en menor medida. Los resultados también revelan que mejorar las prácticas de comunicación formal es uno de los recursos clave a disposición de los directivos para influir en el CA de los empleados de tienda en el desafiante y dinámico contexto de negocio minorista en Argentina.

Este estudio representa un esfuerzo pionero que llena un vacío en la literatura organizacional, ofreciendo enfoques prácticos para desarrollar la satisfacción con la comunicación y el compromiso entre los empleados de tienda de la región, sentando las bases para futuras investigaciones sobre prácticas de gestión efectivas en Latino América.

Esta investigação examina a relação entre a satisfação com a comunicação percebida pelos empregados de duas cadeias de supermercados internacionais líderes na Argentina e o seu comprometimento organizacional. Especificamente, identifica quais as abordagens de comunicação que melhor explicam ou prevêem o comprometimento afetivo e de continuidade dos empregados com a sua organização.

O modelo de investigação combina uma versão adaptada e traduzida do questionário de satisfação com a comunicação de Downs e Hazen como variável independente e os componentes afetivo e contínuo do comprometimento organizacional, baseado no modelo de três componentes de Meyer e Allen, como variáveis dependentes. O estudo empírico e causal obteve respostas de 372 funcionários de lojas de duas cadeias multinacionais, uma de origem francesa e outra espanhola, localizadas na área metropolitana de Buenos Aires.

Os resultados sugerem que a gestão de comunicação é a que tem o maior impacto sobre o comprometimento afetivo (CA), enquanto a comunicação com os chefes diretos também se revelou significativa, embora em menor medida. Revela também que a melhoria das práticas de comunicação formal é crucial para os gestores que pretendem influenciar o CA dos empregados das lojas no dinâmico e desafiante panorama do retalho argentino.

Este estudo representa um esforço pioneiro que preenche uma lacuna na literatura organizacional, oferecendo abordagens práticas para desenvolver a satisfação com a comunicação e o comprometimento entre os funcionários de lojas da região, lançando as bases para futuras pesquisas sobre práticas de gestão eficazes na América Latina.

This research aims to investigate the relationship between banks’ financial leverage and economic financial stability, and as a result, the research will discuss the role of earnings management (EM) in this relationship, since managers normally manipulate their financial reports when they show higher financial leverage. It is important to control the financial leverage in Jordanian banks based on the research results. The main objective is to mitigate the bank’s financial leverage risk as much as its relationship with financial stability. Results may be important for investors, managers, regulatory bodies and auditors in Jordan since they help strengthen financial stability in Jordan. Finally, the main objective of this study is to find a solution to maintain stable and real financial economy by finding the effect of higher financial leverage in Jordanian banks of managers’ cosmetic practices. This will be discussed through testing the role of EM of the relationship between firm’s financial leverage and financial stability.

In order for the researchers to analyze data, quantitative methods are processed statistically. Also, the researcher tests research conceptual framework according to the mediation model that was developed by Preacher and Hayes (2004). In Figure (1) of which panel A: determines a direct effect, while panel B: illustrates a mediating design. To construct the sample, the researcher used information extracted from Jordanian annual financial reports that is extracted from Amman Stock Exchange. The population of the study includes all Jordanian banks which are 26 banks, additionally, the period from 2008 to 2018 was used to illustrate data. The reason behind using this period is that to examine the variables relationships for and after 2008 financial crisis and its consequences. The researcher chose 2018 as the end period, that is because it is the year before COVID-19 period which covers 2019–2022, and this period is considered not normal. In comparison with past studies, the researcher used modified Jones Model to measure EM (Valášková et al., 2021; Nopiana and Salvi, 2022; Riahi, 2020; Quddoos et al., 2020; Cho et al., 2012), while financial stability and financial leverage was calculated using total debt/total equity (Nopiana and Salvi, 2022). Finally, financial stability is measured using the financial stability model for banking sector, but not for all economy that is because the banking sector represents 96% of the economy, also this study applied for banking sector. Missing values were replaced using the mean on SPSS. Finally, regression model and F-score, correlation have been examined in the research analysis.

Increased risk on enterprises has an impact on economic financial stability. And the interest rate result shows that Jordan’s central bank boosts interest rates during inflationary periods, increasing the risk to the economy’s financial stability. Furthermore, size has a minimal impact when compared to other variables, and greater business sizes signal more sophisticated transactions and higher leverage, reducing the economy’s financial soundness. Finally, ROA indicates increased bank performance, which contributes to the economy’s financial stability. While EM has a direct negative impact on financial stability, this conclusion is consistent with the researcher’s expectations. Because EM refers to the manipulation of financial report information, including information about financial leverage, manipulation also lowers investor confidence in bank share prices, affecting the stability of the economy’s financial system. It has little influence on the relationship between leverage and economic financial stability.

The implications of this research have been discussed through the research, for example, to maintain economic financial stability, auditors must take care through their role specially when there is higher financial leverage of Jordanian banks. Further, managers must pay attention before manipulating financial information if there is high financial leverage, because this will affect the economic financial stability. Lastly, the most important implication is that the maintenance of economic financial stability, and EM if not discovered for a period of time may show false signaling of economic financial stablity, and suddenly face financial crises.

Understanding the role of EM in the relationship between banks’ financial leverage the economic financial stability, may control many issues like the role of external auditor of reporting about the reliability of financial information (when there is high bank financial leverage, the auditor must exercise professional care and increase his sample to ensure that there are no cosmetic accounting), and when EM is in control, the economy will work smoothly and react normally to the effect of financial leverage of Jordanian banks. And the situation of 2008 crisis will not be repeated (because of the cosmetic practices by American firms for many years since 2008 with hidden cosmetic practices, suddenly, the 2008 crises happened). In conclusion, this discussion is original, since no literature theoretically discussed this issue before which (EM when financial leverage is high) may be applied in practice.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused financial stress and limited their lending agility, resulting in more non-performing loans (NPLs) and lower performance during the II wave of the coronavirus crisis. Therefore, it is essential to identify the risky factors influencing the financial performance of Indian banks spanning 2018–2022.

Our sample consists of a balanced panel dataset of 75 scheduled commercial banks from three different ownership groups, including public, private and foreign banks, that were actively engaged in their operations during 2018–2022. Factor identification is performed via a fixed-effects model (FEM) that solves the issue of heterogeneity across different with banks over time. Additionally, to ensure the robustness of our findings, we also identify the risky drivers of the financial performance of Indian banks using an alternative measure, the pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) model.

Empirical evidence indicates that default risk, solvency risk and COVAR reduce financial performance in India. However, high liquidity, Z-score and the COVID-19 crisis enhance the financial performance of Indian banks. Unsystematic risk and systemic risk factors play an important role in determining the prognosis of COVID-19. The study supports the “bad-management,” “moral hazard” and “tail risk spillover of a single bank to the system” hypotheses. Public sector banks (PSBs) have considerable potential to achieve financial performance while controlling unsystematic risk and exogenous shocks relative to their peer group. Finally, robustness check estimates confirm the coefficients of the main model.

This study contributes to the knowledge in the banking literature by identifying risk factors that may affect financial performance during a crisis nexus and providing information about preventive measures. These insights are valuable to bankers, academics, managers and regulators for policy formulation. The findings of this paper provide important insights by considering all the risk factors that may be responsible for reducing the probability of financial performance in the banking system of an emerging market economy.

The empirical analysis has been done with a fresh perspective to consider unsystematic risk, systemic risk and exogenous risk (COVID-19) with the financial performance of Indian banks. Furthermore, none of the existing banking literature explicitly explores the drivers of the I and II waves of COVID-19 while considering COVID-19 as a dependent variable. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to make efforts in this direction.

Brands are seizing their latitude in the metaverse – this study conceptualizes a digital doppelgänger as the sense of embodiment of the physical person and unpacks their effect on consumer brand engagement by examining the mediating role of digital doppelgänger’s brand interactions.

Data was collected through an online self-administered questionnaire employing criterion-based judgment sampling, resulting in 475 qualified responses. The data was validated through a two-step SEM (structural equation modeling) application of Hayes’s Process in the SmartPLS4 package. The IMPA analysis technique identified the most important and influential factor driving brand performance in the metaverse.

The study reveals that digital doppelgänger’s brand interactions mediate the relationship between the digital doppelgänger (embodiment of the person) and consumer brand engagement. Brand interaction manifests enjoyment, relaxation and reputation felt by the physical person. The result indicates that digital doppelgänger’s brand interaction drives brand performance in the metaverse.

Our study is an original attempt to conceptualize a digital doppelgänger as the sense of embodiment of the physical person and their brand interactions in the metaverse influence consumer brand engagement to produce enjoyment, relaxation and reputation – this is a novel contribution to interactive marketing literature.

This paper aims to apply a socio-ecological systems framework to demonstrate that pastoral adaptation to climate change necessitates a comprehensive approach.

The authors evaluated the depth of knowledge regarding pastoral adaptation in Africa using bibliometric and content-based analyses.

The analysis of 40 eligible articles, conducted through R Studio, revealed a significant emphasis on climate change adaptation measures. However, there was a noticeable scarcity of research on the role of governance, policy and institutional interventions.

The scope of the research is limited to the African continent.

This research shed light on how inadequate governance structures and insufficient institutional support, particularly in terms of skills and capacity-building, hinder pastoral communities’ resilience. These limitations may potentially affect pastoral livelihoods adversely, with severe consequences for food security and poverty levels in Africa.

A comprehensive understanding of the challenges pastoralists face in Africa to adapt to climate change will assist in defining high-level policies and interventions to improve pastoral communities’ adaptation actions.

The study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses approach to ensure a thorough and systematic investigation. Furthermore, using an established framework and clearly defined methods will greatly aid in replicating the research.

This study aims to investigate the effect of regulatory pressure on discretionary capital management measured with the discretionary loan loss provisions (DLLP) in public (PuBs) and Private (PrBs) banks in Tunisia. Three variables are used to proxy the regulatory capital constraints: (1) the change in capital requirements, (2) the beginning of the year capital ratio (3) and the end of year adjusted capital ratio.

To address our objective, we provide in a first step the DLLP estimation as done by Shantaram and Steven (2021). Then, in a second step based on hand-collected panel data on the 12 commercial Tunisian banks, linear dynamic model with interaction variables is conducted to discriminate between PuBs and PrBs behavior. The generelized method of moment (GMM) estimation is applied to show if the PuBs and PrBs behave differently to regulatory capital pressures. For robustness check, the discriminant analysis and the nonlinear probit and logit models are considered in a third step.

The three capital constraints affect differently the discretionary behavior of Banks. First, an increase in capital requirements makes PrBs under pressure to reduce their DLLP, which is not the case for PuBs. Second, a low capital ratio at the beginning of the year makes strong pressure on PuBs to reduce their DLLP. Third, neither PrBs nor PuBs decrease their DLLP to improve the end of year-adjusted capital ratio. The discretionary behavior of PrBs is influenced by pressures to appear well-capitalized while the behavior of PuBs is influenced by pressure to enhance their capital positions. These results are well strengthened by the discriminant analysis and the nonlinear probit and logit model investigations.?

A few studies examined incentives based on the regulatory theory in Tunisian banks and were carried out within static linear models. Contrary to Elleuch and Taktak (2015) who tested the regulatory incentives following the publication of the (IMF, 2002), this paper tests, within linear dynamic model and nonlinear model, the effect of national prudential rules on capital management between 2006 and 2016.